November 13, 2009

Copenhagen/International Updates

U.S. considers backing interim international climate agreement– “The scaled-back strategy is driven largely by the realities of domestic politics: The administration is hampered in making an international deal because Congress has not passed climate legislation. So any global pact would be postponed until next year when it would be constrained by whatever domestic climate legislation Congress enacts.

Backing an interim agreement — which would fall far short of what many European and developing nations envisioned when President Obama took office — would be an attempt to keep the U.N.-sponsored talks from being viewed a failure, say administration and congressional officials.”

UN official says leaders want fast climate deal– “World leaders are setting their sights on completing an international deal on combating global warming by the middle of next year, a U.N. official said on Thursday, now that there is broad agreement next month’s deadline will not be met in Copenhagen.

With hope all but gone that December’s international climate change summit in Copenhagen will reach a final deal on new goals for reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, negotiators are focusing on when such a pact can realistically be produced.

Janos Pasztor, climate adviser to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, told reporters that Ban “has consulted with a number of heads of state and so far the general feeling seems to be that we should try to complete the job earlier than later.” He added, “So, more like the six months than the 12″ for additional negotiations.”

Brazilian authorities said that between August 2008 and July this year, deforestation in the world’s largest tropical rainforest fell by the largest amount in more than 20 years, dropping by 45% from nearly 13,000 square kilometres to around 7,000 square kilometres (5,000 square miles to 2,700 square miles).

“It is an excellent figure – a historic result,” the environment minister, Carlos Minc, said in the capital, Brasilia.”